re: Why aren't these conservative geniuses talking about repealing the 17th?

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The people who get appointed would be the biggest arse kissers and schmoozers of their respective parties or, perhaps in some cases, "elder statesmen" getting one last gig in.

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It would shift politics back to the states and local districts instead of D.C. It's easier to elect a "radical" to be a state representative than it is for one to win a statewide election. That in turns means that people who wanted to buck the system would have an incentive to run for a state rep position helping keep the establishment from running roughshod over everyone else.

A much better argument against repealing the 17th is that would you really want corrupt legislators in states like Illinois directly choosing who represents their state in D.C. I don't think it's a particularly good argument but it's much better than your argument that repealing the 17th would result in only the establishment being in power.